We dropped Megan off at the MTC this week! She was very brave but so nervous that she didn't eat much lunch at the restaurant of her choice: Pizza Pie Cafe. Mariah, Cheyenne, and Cali were at camp, so Kevin, Savannah, Beth, Ben, and I were left to help her pack and meet Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik at the MTC at to say goodbye and drop her off. She looked cheery in her bright, yellow dress and it was hard to not think as she walked away that the sunshine in our life was walking away, too! We love that girl! We are proud that she is sharing her light with as many people as will listen. We will make it to December of 2019. It's just next year!

Mariah didn't leave for camp until 3:00 on Monday, so we took the chance to have one more family hurrah! Megan suggested we go up Hobble Creek Canyon and have a picnic and family softball game. It was perfect! We even did some river walking. Mariah had a hard time saying goodbye to her sister. They will really miss each other. I would post the picture but it would make us cry all over again so you'll just have to imagine.

The next day Cali and Chey left for camp. We had hugs and pictures! They will miss Megan, too!

When Meg left the next day, Beth, Ben, Savannah, Kevin, and I felt like we had a very empty, quiet house. :(

Happily, Friday, we got some of our kids back! Mariah, Cali, and Chey had a great time at camp. They were very brave to go to a new stake camp. They were each put in a different group while there. They made new friends and happy memories and I'm so proud of them for supporting their leaders and trusting the system. We all saw their faith rewarded.

Just hours later, my sister, Amy came and filled my house up with her four girls as well as Maggie's two youngest. Yay! Bring us some noise and distract us from thinking of how much we miss Megan! For the rest of Friday we went to the carnival and the kids went on all the rides and cooled off at the splash pad. We came home and had waffles for dinner (since the carnival made us crave scones and funnel cakes) and then went back for some night carnival rides.

Saturday morning we went to the parade and then went home to hang out for a bit. By special request, Savannah took Mariah, Liz, and Mandy to tour BYU campus. When they got back, we all went to the reservoir to do some swimming, floating, and paddle boarding. We had hamburgers for dinner and then drove down to Brookside to end the day with fireworks!